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By Deborah Dove
Northeast Allen can rest assured that they are in good hands when the second shift goes on duty at Fire Station 2. The firefighter/paramedics that make up the B shift have an incredible 62 years of combined experience between them. Firefighter/paramedic Darren Thomas has been with the Allen Fire Department the longest with 19 years of service, followed closely by Captain Mark Beaty at 18 years and engineer Dean Boyce at 14 years. Coincidentally (and to the great amusement of the firefighters), Thomas taught a fifth grade fire safety class to the youngest firefighter on the shift, Allen native Bryan Janak.
However it is firefighter/paramedic Eric Miller who has been with the department for nine years (five of them at Station 2), who does most of the cooking during their shift.
"I enjoy cooking," says Miller. "And it was self-preservation from a previous crew."
Although he worked the usual fast food restaurant jobs in high school, Miller acquired his love of cooking from his grandmother, and he would hang out with her while she cooked. It wasn’t until he tried to put one of his recipes on paper for the Allen Image that he realized why it had been so hard for her to write down her recipes for him.
"As she got older, I tried to get her to write down some of her recipes," he remembers, "and she would say ‘oh, just a pinch of this or a handful of this.’"
Obviously, Eric Miller inherited his intuitive cooking style from her with the same delicious results. In addition to his chicken pot pie, which he was kind enough to share with us, his coworkers rave about his 18 bean soup, pork chops and stuffing and smothered steak.
Although Miller does the majority of the cooking, each of the firefighters has his own specialty. Bryan Janak cooks his mom’s meatloaf. Darren Thomas’ specialties are a chicken enchilada casserole that is so tasty all the firefighters now make it at home, and a dish called SOS, a traditional military meal consisting of chopped meat and boiled eggs in a cream gravy served on toast. Dean Boyse, who fishes at Texoma several times a year, usually ends up with 250-300 fish which he grills up for the guys.
"Yeah, we eat a lot of striper," Captain Mark Beaty says unen-
thusiastically, prompting the other firefighters to joke that the captain’s favorite meal is a BLT for lunch and a pot roast for dinner, saying that if it doesn’t have bacon or cheese in it, he’s not interested. Although Captain Beaty himself professes, "I’m not a cook, I’m a cleaner," and says his specialties are bacon and PB&J, he will make his famous Shepherd’s Pie at least once a year.
According to Captain Beaty, in addition to enjoying good food and a passion for their vocation, all of the firefighters on the shift really like kids. Bryan Janak is a leader of the department’s Explorer Post, a program designed to give young adults ages 15-21 an opportunity to learn about the fire service, and through the program he mentors teens, recently even helping a floundering student pass a class in order to stay in the program and go on "ride outs," one of the coveted perks of the program. The firefighters are often called upon to educate school groups, and Eric Miller’s son stops by frequently on his way home from day care for milk and cookies.
When the weather is nice, you might find the firefighter’s enjoying a meal outdoors at the picnic table Dean Boyce recently built from scrap lumber (with some help from Janak), a beautifully constructed table with a red fire emblem and the station number emblazoned on the top. Who knows, perhaps they’ll be dining on one of the following dishes.
Eric’s Chicken Pot Pie
Pie Crust
2 c. flour
3/4 tsp. salt
2/3 c. shortening
6 Tbs. ice cold water
Combine flour and salt; cut in shortening until crumbly. Add water until dough comes together. Divide in half. Roll out one ball to form bottom crust and press into 9-inch pie plate. Roll out other ball to form top crust.
Pie Filling
Package of boneless/skinless chicken breasts (1 to 1-1/2 lbs.)
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 c. milk
2 c. diced parboiled potatoes
1/2 c. parboiled peas
1/2 c. parboiled carrots
Boil or grill chicken breasts. Dice chicken into 1/4-inch cubes. While chicken is cooking, parboil potatoes, carrots and peas. Dice potatoes same as chicken. In a large mixing bowl, combine soup and milk. This will be the "gravy," not too thick, but not too runny. Add peas, carrots, potatoes and chicken to this mixture. Pour mixture into bottom crust. Add top pie crusts and seal the edges with the tines of a fork. Cut slits in top crust for steam vents. Bake at 375º for 45 minutes or until pie crusts is golden brown.
Note: Store bought pie crust can be substituted for homemade, as can canned peas, carrots and potatoes.
Dean’s Striper
(Simple, Healthy and Delicious)
One qt. size bag of fresh Striper filets
One bottle of Italian dressing
Cajun seasoning
Nature’s Own seasoning
Marinate striper in Italian dressing for 4-6 hours. Season with Cajun and Nature’s Own seasonings and cook on grill until fish flakes apart.
*No fresh striper? Call Bob Wilson Guide Service at (903) 463-3754 for a fishing trip on Lake Texoma you and your kids will never forget.
Bryan’s Home-Style Meat Loaf
3/4 c. ketchup, divided
1/4 c. minced fresh onion
2 Tbs. chopped fresh parsley or 1 tbsp. dried parsley
1 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 large egg whites
1-1/2 lbs. ground round
1/2 c. quick cooking oats
Pam spray
Preheat oven to 350º. Combine 1/2 cup ketchup, onion and next 5 ingredients in a large bowl; stir well. Add meat and oats; stir just until blended. Shape mixture into an 8x4 loaf and place on broiler pan that has been sprayed with Pam. Brush remaining 1/4 cup ketchup over meat loaf. Bake at 350º for 70 minutes or until done. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing. Cut into 12 slices. Yields 6 servings.
Captain Beaty’s Shepherd’s Pie
1 lb. lean hamburger
1 lb. tube sausage
8 or 10 potatoes
Large bag of shredded sharp cheddar cheese
Bread and side dish (Green beans cooked with onion soup mix or Leseur peas)
Peel potatoes, cut in approx. 1" squares and boil. Mix the hamburger and sausage together by hand; this is imperative for proper flavor. Brown meat mixture. You must repeatedly turn and break apart until good and brown with small meat chunks. Mash potatoes with one stick of butter, two or three glops of milk and a generous amount of salt and pepper.
Put 1/2 of mashed potatoes as first layer in 9X13 casserole pan. Put browned meat as middle layer. Put remaining mashed potatoes as layer over meat. Cover all with thick layer of sharp cheddar cheese.
Heat in oven at 350º degrees for 5-10 minutes or until cheese is good and melted. Serve with bread and side dish.
Deborah Dove is a freelance writer from Allen. |
